Cultivating gratitude is beneficial for everyone–those showing gratitude, as well as those receiving it. It helps build strong social relationships and help your child’s character strength and emotions grow and mature. Wondering the best way to teach your little one gratitude? Here are 7 activities to teach them to be gracious. Share on X

Activities for Kids to Practice Gratitude

Teaching your children to be gracious is easy and allows you to build quality family time, too. Here are seven activities perfect for teaching kids a sense of gratitude:

1. Share Gratitude at Dinner
2. Gratitude Journal
3. Thank You Cards
4. Gratitude Jar
5. Volunteer/Donate
6. Read Books About Gratitude
7. Gratitude Collage

1) Share Gratitude at Dinner

Family dinner time is the perfect way to show and share gratitude. Encourage everyone at the dinner table to share one thing they are grateful for each night.

2) Gratitude Journal

Another great activity to help cultivate thankfulness is to have your little one start a gratitude journal. Let them pick out a new notebook and then each night before bed, they can write down or draw a picture of something they are feeling grateful for.

3) Thank You Cards

Anytime your child receives gifts or presents, they need to learn how important it is to write a thank you care. Have them thank the person for the gift, but have them think about why they are appreciative of it, as well.

4) Gratitude Jar

Create a gratitude jar for collecting thoughts of thankfulness. Put a decorative jar someplace in your house and anytime your children (or anyone in the family) wants to express gratitude, they can write it on a piece of paper and drop it in the jar. Once or twice a year, you can all read all of the notes together as a family.

5) Volunteer/Donate

ProTip: A simple way to teach kids gratitude is to get them involved in the lives of those less fortunate.

Sign up to volunteer at the children’s hospital or a food bank, or have them donate some of their clothes, toys, or books to those in need.

6) Read Books About Gratitude

There are numerous books available that can help teach kids how to show gratitude. A few are:

• The Secret of Saying Thanks, by Douglas Wood

• Gratitude Soup, by Olivia Rosewood

• Good People Everywhere, by Lynea Gillen

• Bear Says Thanks, by Karma Wilson

• The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein

7) Gratitude Collage

A gratitude collage lets your kiddo create a masterpiece of thankfulness. Pull out the crayons, markers, glue, photos, magazine cut-outs, and whatever else they need, and let them construct a collage full of everything they feel thankful for. Then, talk about the items on their collage and why it makes them feel grateful.

Teaching Children the Attitude of Gratitude

One of the top ways for teaching children gratitude is to always be talking about what gratitude is and how much we all have to be thankful for. Share the importance of showing gratitude every day and have them practice it through their words and actions.

Contact us to learn more way and activities for teaching kids gratitude.